At Staden Quarry this evening (Thursday 7th July) we were advised by a very nice lady that although climbers are welcome, several cows in the field are now calving and one in particular is quite jumpy.
Access is not restricted but I'm sure many climbers will be familiar with the behaviour of calving cows.
Also the owl nest on Suscipiat (VS 4c) appears to have been vacated but the route will need quite a few rainy days before it's clean.
I don't know but she spoke with some authority and appeared to be responsible for the cows in the field so I assume either the landowner or current tenant.
That seems a fairly positive development, but I'm not sure where the livestock fit in. Maybe DWT have not yet taken over, or there's some arrangement with the farmer. I'll ask if I see her again.
There was about 20 cows today, I found it easy to walk around them without causing a disturbance but then I used to work on a dairy farm and feel confident, gave them lots of space, didn't think there was a problem until I saw this post
All meadow and pasture that is ‘left to nature’ is also grazed by livestock at times, for a multitude of reasons. It’s what would have happened pre-farming age with wild herbivores.
That's not really what I was getting at. If the land is owned by Nestlé and managed by DWT, then the livestock are presumably owned by a third party. I assume that I can't arbitrarily choose to graze my livestock on someone else's land, so given the agreement between Nestlé and DWT I am curious what the arrangement is.
> There was about 20 cows today, I found it easy to walk around them without causing a disturbance but then I used to work on a dairy farm and feel confident, gave them lots of space, didn't think there was a problem until I saw this post
If there are cows and calves present then it might be worth reminding people (quite forcibly) that it might not be a good idea to walk dogs in their vicinity.
I don’t see how it’s difficult to understand what the agreement may be. Nestle may well be an international conglomerate but they’ll have a land manager who knows it needs grazing so will have offered it out, as will the DWT if they’ve taken over. I mean they may well be trespassing heifers, but I doubt it. Unless you mean the arrangement directly between Nestle and the DWT but that doesn’t seem at all relevant, really.
Furness quarry just happens to be contained within the Stoney Middleton S.S.S.I. awarded on geological and cave systems merit, not solely for a scruffy noisy quarry. Staden is very similar, but has a nicer aspect and is quiet.
I'm not comparing with the trust, just pointing out the current difference and how an SSI can be successfully managed inside one of the busiest UK climbing venues.
I walk a lot in Ploughman's Woods near where I live and the work the Notts Wildlife Trust is doing is very impressive, despite the horrible impact of Ash dieback ....in massive contrast to the many other woods nearby whereby you need to trespass to even compare chalk and cheese.
Fri Night Vid Ethan Pringle on one of Portugal's Hardest Sport Climb
In this week's Friday Night Video, we follow Ethan Pringle to the 'not-yet-popular' but world-class sport crag of Meio Mango in Portugal. In the film, Ethan attempts one of the country's hardest lines, Filipinos, which was first...
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